You Are
by paigemccullers
Summary: "She-" Suddenly there was a thudding in her head, and her legs became weak. "Did s'mthing." Her words weren't even coherent anymore. Emily looked at Jenna, grasping onto Paige's waist tightly. "What did you give her!" Takes place during the episode 'That Girl is Poison', from the stills of Emily and Paige. Spoilers for season 3.


**You Are**

Emily's eyes scanned the crowd once again. There were too many people, she thought it was supposed to be a closed gathering made up of Jenna's friends and family. Instead, half of Rosewood had turned up; apparently Jenna had opened up the invitation to frat boys and girls wearing short skirts. Emily's boss at the Rear Window Brew had insisted that it was fine and that there was plenty of space and so the party had continued.

Aria was somewhere in the place, Emily had been trying to seek her out for the last fifteen minutes but it hadn't been any use and she couldn't slack off to go and find her, she was working after all, she'd probably get scolded or something. She'd just have to wait for Aria to find her. Aria and Emily had been assigned the job of keeping look out at the party for anything suspicious or more suspicious than usual.

Spencer was on a stake out, keeping an eye on Garrett since he'd been released early to visit someone, they didn't know who and Spencer had taken it upon herself to find out. They'd kept Hanna out of the plan, she was still upset about the break up, and no one could really blame her.

"Emily! Come grab this." Her co-worker, Kevin, called from the bar, holding up a chessboard tray, tailored to Jenna's liking. There wasn't even a theme to the stupid party but Jenna had insisted on chessboard trays with plants in the centre and playing pieces scattered around it. Emily hurried over, dodging figures as she went.

"Circle the crowd." She could tell by his tight-lipped smile that he was getting just as overworked as she was. He handed her the tray of drinks and disappeared to the other end of the bar. Emily puffed out a sharp gush of air from between her lips while flicking her head to one side, trying to rid a long strand of raven hair from her eyes.

She began moving through the crowd; every so often someone would take a drink without thanking her or even acknowledging her presence. It was fine really, she'd gotten used to it, and they weren't even half way through the night yet. She just wished it'd end already. To make everything worse, there was a lock of godamn hair that wouldn't stop falling in front of her eyes, it tickled her nose and made her cheek itchy, not to mention the fact that she couldn't see out of her right eye.

She stumbled out of the most populated area of the Brew, careful to not spill the two drinks left on her tray. She blew the strand away from her face once again, only to have it land right back where it was.

A soft chuckle echoed quietly from behind her. She felt someone close to her, it made her uncomfortable, she really didn't need some cocky guy hitting on her right now. She turned to meet the eyes of the person.

"Need some help, Em?" Emily opened her mouth but nothing came out, instead a hand reached up to her face, lightly taking the lock of hair and pushing it behind her ear. Emily suddenly felt at ease.

"Paige." Emily felt the smile painting her lips before she even knew it was happening. Paige had been wonderful to her lately. They were almost as close as Emily was to Spencer, Aria and Hanna. She'd helped her so much throughout the whole Maya thing. She'd been able to offer things the other girls hadn't. Paige didn't question her, she offered dry, witty remarks when necessary, and she took her swimming. "What are you doing here?"

Paige shrugged and took one of the drinks from Emily's tray.

"I heard there was a party. I like to party." Emily rolled her eyes at the taller girl's wit.

"Paige, please." Paige let out a laugh before leaning back against a table and placing the drink behind her, Emily moved so she was stood opposite the girl.

"I heard Jenna was having her birthday party here and some kids at school were planning on crashing. I just came to make sure you were gonna be okay surrounded by the whole town." Paige lowered her voice a little towards the end of her sentence, letting her eyes dart to the ground, feeling a little embarrassed. She didn't really know why, she just felt protective of her friends. Emily especially. She was just so fragile.

The corner of Emily's lips tucked up into a half smile, she lowered her arm, it was beginning to ache now.

"I'm fine Paige, you didn't have to come check on me." Emily chuckled. Paige ducked her head, feeling her cheeks flush. "But that's sweet of you and I appreciate it." Emily grinned when Paige looked back up to her, a goofy smile on her face. "Are you sticking around?"

"Yeah, I saw a guy and two of his frat boys eyeing you up before. I don't like the idea of leaving you here with a million idiots." Paige crossed her arms, glaring a little in the direction of a crowd of people. Emily raised her eyebrows questioningly at her friend, Paige felt her gaze. "I- I mean, I don't, I just-" Emily shoved Paige playfully.

"I have to get back to work-"

"Emily!" Paige looked over Emily's shoulder towards the bar, where a young man was beckoning her friend. Emily waved quickly at him before looking back to Paige.

"I have to go but if you stay I'll see you later?" Paige gave a quick nod. She watched Emily move away, her eyes moving over every aspect of her.

"Watch your leering, McCullers." Paige snapped her neck to the left.

"Hello, Jenna. Happy Birthday." Paige offered a tight-lipped smile. Jenna gave a mock grin as Paige took a sip of her drink.

"I wouldn't spend your time chasing her." Jenna followed Paige's gaze. "You're gonna get hurt eventually." Without another word, Jenna vanished. Paige snarled quietly, she'd never liked Jenna. She'd noticed Spencer and Hanna giving her these 'looks' and ever since Maya, Paige had actually gotten to know Emily's friends a bit better. She trusted them.

She took another gulp of her drink. What the hell was this crap anyway? It was burning her throat, and not in the good way.

* * *

Emily bit down her tongue as Kevin told her to circulate yet again. That's all she had been doing for the last hour. Circulating. Offering drinks to already drunken people that either didn't hear her or didn't want to hear her.

"Hey." Emily sighed with relief as Aria grabbed her elbow. "I need to take off, Spencer called." Emily's brow furrowed in concern.

"Is she okay? Do you need me?"

"No, no. We need you here, she's fine. Just, I'll call you later okay?" Aria didn't wait for a reply, practically running out the front door, leaving Emily alone, once again.

Time to circulate.

Paige felt heavy, like someone was trying to drag her through the floor. This wasn't drunk. Everything was blurry; no matter how much she blinked it wouldn't go away. Her feet dragged along the ground as she tried to find her way to the bar. She wasn't stupid. She knew something was wrong.

"McCullers, looking good." Jenna sniped, giggling sharply at the brunette's appearance. "You get drunk off just one drink? Bit of a lightweight are we?" Paige felt the rage bubble within her.

"What-" She swayed on the spot, immediately regretting even trying to talk.

"Wow, that's pathetic." Jenna smirked, folding her arms. Paige took a careless step forward, still latching onto the bar with one arm.

"What did you do?" Paige slurred, her eyes trying their best to focus.

"Me?" Jenna tossed a look to her side, shaking her head. "I didn't do-"

"Paige?" That was Emily's voice; Paige knew Emily's voice anywhere. "Paige, are you okay?" Paige felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"She-" Suddenly there was a thudding in her head, and her legs became weak. "Did s'mthing." Her words weren't even coherent anymore. Emily looked at Jenna, grasping onto Paige's waist tightly.

"What did you give her?" Jenna stepped back, letting her arms drop to her sides, shaking her head.

"I- I didn't give her anything, I just thought she was drunk! I-" Paige went limp and plummeted to the ground, the last of her energy spent breaking her fall with her arms before she passed out.

"Oh my god, get help!" Emily yelled at no one in particular, rushing down to Paige's side, rolling her over so she was on her side in the recovery position. She heard the Brew go quiet behind her as the music stopped playing. That claustrophobic feeling began to overwhelm her as a crowd of people surrounded them. "Party's over, Jenna." Emily growled lowly, glowering up at the stricken looking girl.

Jenna began to clear the place out just as Emily heard sirens.

"Paige, Paige can you hear me?" There was no response; Emily began to panic, pushing stands of silky hair from Paige's face. "Paige, the paramedics are coming okay?" Still nothing. "Paige?"

A few seconds later a swarm of men in fluorescent jackets surrounded the two girls, forcing Emily out of the way. She stumbled to the left as another two men jogged in with a stretcher. Emily's jaw was slack; she was waiting for the words to come, to say something, anything.

"Do you know this girl?" Emily swayed softly, reaching out to the bar to steady herself. The man before her was tall with broad shoulders, he was intimidating, his mouth was moving but all she could hear was a low droning noise. "Miss, do you know this girl?" Emily shook her head and focused.

"Yes, Paige. Uhm, Paige McCullers, she's my friend." Emily spun away from the man as they wheeled Paige by on the gernie, an oxygen mask covering her mouth. It was all too similar. This was Maya all over again, why did this have to happen to her? "Is she going to be okay?" Emily's voice was full of urgency and panic. The lump in her throat growing with every breath she took. Emily pushed past a group of loiterers following Paige as they rolled her towards the ambulance.

"Miss!" The paramedic she'd been talking to grabbed her arm from behind. She spun around, ripping her arm from his grasp. Tears were stinging the corners of her eyes and she had to swallow to keep from breaking down. This was not happening, she wouldn't let it.

"Can I go with her? Please, her parents live at the other side of town. I'm her best friend." Emily was surprised at the sincerity in her voice, she flinched when a sob caught in her throat but she shook her head and wiped a fallen tear away. "Please." The balding man thought for a second before nodding sharply.

"Hurry, just climb in the back." He supported her by the hand as she climbed into the back of the ambulance before jumping in himself. The sirens began to sound again and the men opposite her began to speak a million miles an hour using medical terms she didn't even understand.

So Emily just took Paige's hand squeezing it between her fingers tightly, promising silently to not let go.

* * *

"Emily?" Emily stood when she heard her name turning to the source of the voice. "Sweetie, are you okay?" Spencer pulled the girl into her arms, squeezing tightly. Emily offered Hanna and Aria a small smile over Spencer's shoulder. "What happened?" Spencer pulled back, examining Emily at arms length.

"Paige, she just, someone slipped her something. I don't know, one second she was fine, we were talking, she took one of the drinks from me and then I left her." Emily shook her head, looking at the ground, replaying the events over and over. "I saw her talking to Jenna and then she just fell, she was talking weird, her eyes were hardly open…." Emily trailed off. Spencer cupped her cheek for a second, giving the girl a sincere smile.

"Is it-" Emily caught her words, her voice breaking. Hanna and Aria hurried forward, forming a tight circle. "Is Paige hurt," Emily laid her words out carefully. "Did A do this, because of me?"

"No! No, Em." Aria was quick to deny her.

"Em, listen to us. We don't even know if this was A." Hanna spoke.

"There were a lot of people at that party and if you take your eye off your drink for even a second…" Aria trailed off. "Anyone could've slipped her something." Emily nodded along with what they were saying but none of it really made her feel better.

"How long's she been in there?"

"Uh about an hour or so, my mom came by before. She brought my jacket." Emily mumbled, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. "We tried to ring Paige's parents but they didn't answer, my mom went to see if she could find them."

"Knowing them they're out of town." Spencer's voice was hushed and bitter. No one could really blame her; Paige's parents weren't the friendliest of people, or the nicest. Just then a man with graying hair walked up behind Emily, Spencer wrapped her fingers around Emily's wrist and tugged a little, making Emily aware of the new presence.

"Paige McCullers?" He looked between the four girls.

"Yes."

"She's going to be fine." Emily immediately let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "There were high traces of GHB in her system, about twice the maximum dose. It's more commonly referred to as a date rape drug in these situations." Each of the girl's eyes widened at the doctor's words.

"Usually, the assailant will slip the drug into unattended drinks. I'm guessing that's what happened to Paige."

"I left her alone for like an hour, she only had one drink and she knows better than to leave it lying around." Emily defended, she knew Paige, she was almost as responsible as Spencer and that was saying something.

"It only takes a second." Emily felt her chest tighten; when Paige took the drink, when they talked, she put the drink behind her.

"Oh god. Is she awake?" The doctor tilted his head uneasily.

"Yes and no, she's in and out of consciousness but if you stick around another hour, I'm sure she'll be up for visitors then." Spencer nodded in thanks. The doctor turned and left abruptly.

"Emily, you okay?" Aria rubbed Emily's arm softly, hugging into her side just a little. Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded.

"We're gonna find out who did it, don't worry. Do you want me to get my mom? Or do you want me to get you anything from the house?" Hanna dipped her own eyes to find Emily's. Emily smiled, only her friends could make her feel better in such a crappy situation. Emily shook her head.

"Well we'll wait with you." Spencer motioned back at the seats. Emily let out a dry laugh.

"Guys, it's nearly 1am. Go home. I'll text you in the morning."

"We're not leaving you alone, Em." Hanna, folded her arms stubbornly. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Go home and sleep." Emily appreciated Hanna so much right now, she'd just broken up with the first guy she'd ever loved and yet she was here, being her usual self, making everything better. She took the blonde into her arms, whispering a quiet 'love you' into her ear before pulling away.

"Fine, you win Fields. You always win." Hanna tossed her hands in the air in defeat.

"That's because you're whipped." Spencer stated. She reached out to hug Emily again. "We all are." Emily laughed before hugging Aria in the same fashion.

"Ring us if anything happens, okay?"

"You'd sound more threatening if you weren't two foot tall." Spencer ruffled Aria's hair playfully. Aria swatted the taller girls hand away before pointing angrily at her.

"You are a bully." The three started to walk away.

"See you guys later." Emily watched until they'd left the hallway before slumping back down into a chair.

* * *

An hour and a half had passed already and the doctor hadn't been back. Emily's mom had come and gone again, turns out Paige's parents were out of town. No surprise there. Pam had left moments ago; she trusted Emily there on her own but made her promise to ring when she was leaving the hospital.

Emily's leg was shaking from the waiting; all she'd done is wait. She was tired, she had a headache and she felt really gross from being in a place crowded with sweating bodies hours earlier. She just really needed to see Paige already.

"Are you Emily?" A young nurse with blonde hair asked shyly. Emily stood up carefully, unaware of how numb her legs felt.

"Yeah, is Paige okay?" Her voice was rough and dry but she honestly didn't care about anything but the other girl right now. The nurse smiled and nodded her head to the right.

"I'll take you to her." Emily didn't say anything but followed the nurse down the bright white corridor. The nurse eventually pushed one of the doors open and gestured for Emily to go in, Emily did so before the nurse closed the door behind her.

"Am I dead?" Emily couldn't help but laugh at Paige's words. She'd been drugged yet she was making jokes. Typical.

"How are you? Are you feeling okay?" Emily pulled a chair up to her bedside and finally got the chance to fully examine her friend. She looked hot and sweaty and pale. She looked everything bad; her hair was a mess, yet she still managed to look cute. Emily subconsciously pushed Paige's hair from her eyes then took a seat next to the bed, probably a little closer than necessary but she didn't care.

"I feel like I was at the wrong end of a baseball bat in a bar brawl." Paige croaked.

"Oh you were, with Jenna." Emily cocked an eyebrow. Paige closed her eyes and even crack a smile.

"She's a bitch. I see why Spencer's Spencer now."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah." Paige looked at Emily for the first time since she'd entered the room. "I never saw anyone put anything in my drink." Paige laughed at her own words. "Well if I had I wouldn't have drank it, but anyway, someone must have gotten something in it somehow. Whatever, I'm okay." Paige dismissed, half smiling. Emily sighed.

"You scared the hell out of me. Please don't do that again." It was Paige's turn to raise an eyebrow now.

"Oh really? Paige 'the great' McCullers scared Emily 'fearless' Fields?" Emily pouted and tapped on the back of Paige's fragile hand with her own fingertips.

"We talked about this, I'm not fearless. I have many phobias, like spiders…electric shocks….." Emily rambled on.

"Shut up." Paige swatted Emily's hand playfully.

"Behave, nothing but bed rest for you for the next year." Emily spoke with a motherly tone to her voice. Paige's mouth opened in mock despair.

"As if! Then you'd have no competition for anchor. Can't have that." Paige made an effort to lift her hand to point at Emily but the action fell short when she realized how weak and tired she actually was. Emily caught Paige's hand in her own before it hit the mattress.

She explored the skin with her fingertips. Her hands were soft and delicate, her fingers light to the touch. It was strange, that something so simple like skin, Paige's skin, could do this to her. She examined the space between her fingers and found herself slipping her own fingers into them. Her brow creased. They fit so perfectly. She closed her fingers around Paige's hand, feeling Paige do the same thing made her heart swell.

Emily's eyes flicked up to meet Paige's. There was something there, other than pain and exhaustion.

"You scared me, don't do that again." Emily's voice was low; she leant down so her chin was resting on the pillow. Paige turned her head so she could keep eye contact with the girl. Her eyes were amazing.

"I'll try my best."

"You need to sleep."

"So do you." Paige subconsciously held onto Emily's hand tighter. Emily shot a look at their joined hands before turning back to Paige.

"I'm not leaving till you do." Emily saw Paige's eyelids droop; sleep beginning to take hold of her.

"You're annoying." Paige murmured. Emily licked her lips and dropped her eyes to Paige's. Despite Paige being paler than a ghost, her lips were still rose red, soft. She pushed off her chair and captured Paige's lips with her own. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She told everyone she was afraid of electric shocks, but when Paige's lips were the cause she had no complaints.

Paige kissed back; Emily's lips were so soft on hers, almost like a feather. Emily pulled back and Paige immediately missed the contact. She was probably dreaming anyway. She was taken by surprise when Emily descended on her lips again, just a little, just enough.

Emily fell back into her seat. Paige had almost been asleep before, she certainly wasn't now.

"I thought you wanted to friend zone me?" Paige couldn't erase the goofy grin covering her lips. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She could still taste Emily.

Emily melted at the sight of Paige biting her lip, why did she have to be so adorable. How was she so adorable in a hospital gown, paler than a vampire? Emily didn't know but Paige was the only person that could pull that off. Emily groaned quietly.

"Stop that." Emily's eyes fixed on Paige's bottom lip. Paige giggled at Emily's child like manner. She was so cute.

"Go home and sleep." Paige shook Emily's hand within her own but refused to let go. Emily shook her head.

"No." Emily's eyes back on Paige's now.

"Emily, you shou-" Paige was cut off by Emily's lips on hers once again. Emily pressed a little harder this time, taking as much of her in as she could. Paige felt a surge of strength go through her and managed to raise her other hand up to cup Emily's cheek. Emily sucked gently on Paige's bottom lip, Paige tasted just as good as she remembered. She pulled away slowly, brushing their noses together as she went. Paige's hand dropped back to her side.

"You tease me." Paige's voice was breathy and husky.

"Go to sleep." Emily used her free hand to caress Paige's cheek, the colour slowly coming back to her cheeks.

"Lie with me." Paige made a weak attempt at pulling on Emily's hand but Emily got the picture. She didn't care for hospital policy. She climbed onto Paige's bed; there was just enough room for two. "Thank you."

"Goodnight." Emily whispered, laying on her side so she could keep her eyes on Paige's figure. Paige was silent, her breathing evened out.

The room was dark, but Emily was so close to Paige she could distinguish every feature, from the line of her nose to the slight tint of pink in her cheeks. She felt overwhelmed by her beauty, being so close to someone as pretty as Paige made her stomach turn and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. She didn't want to close her eyes but she knew she had to sleep. She wanted to be the one to wake up first, just so she could see Paige wake up.

She closed her eyes and squeezed Paige's hand in hers once more.

* * *

_I'm just gonna say i have no medical knowledge whatsoever so just go with me on this one. I also know that there are other spoilers about this episode but i just wanted to write out my version of the bar Paige/Emily scene._

_Thank you for reading!_


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